From the smp archives
Someone was inquiring what po qam meant on their prescription. The first
response was the obvious take one every morning and this was the second
response:

The interpretation of the prescription terms  po qam is a widely held
misconception.

In reality, Po Qam was the emperor of China in the Third Dynasty.
Emperor Qam believed that rising at dawn and absorbing the sunbeams of
the new day would strenthen his vitality, and decreed that all his
citizen should do likewise.  Although his decree was not widely obeyed
in the largely agrarian society, within the towns it was more easily
enforceable. Emperor Qam hit on the plan to enforce the decree bit by
bit in his country.  He decided to start with the guilds, one by one,
and arbitrarily chose to begin enforcement in the apothecary guild.
At first the apothecaries scoffed at the idea of rising before dawn to
have their shops open at the first crack of day, but after a few lost
their heads in opposition, they fell in line like sheep.
Next the Emperor enforced his decree with the guild of healers and
herbalist, the forebearers of the modern physicians. Soon Qam pushed his
luck too far, too many late risers where being forced to rise early, and
a general unrest spread across the land.  The people rose up and Qam was
overthrown, ending the Third Dynasty and ushering in the Forth Dynasty,
(where spelling was not held in high regard) and the new emperor Po Qhs
was installed. (As he was the first emperor of the Forth Dynasty, it is
customary to denote him as "i Po Qhs")
Anyway, after Po Qam was deposed, and people could once again sleep late
as was the fashion, the healers and apothecaries began writing the
former emperor's name as a shorthand for "in the morning" and of course
as a way of thumbing their noses at the hated despot.

[For further validation of this account, consult with RxEmpress, who
posts in these groups, regarding the various dynasties and the origins
of prescription terms.]

 What's more interesting is that the Forth Dynasty was overthrown by the Li
twins, Qod and Qos.  Qod decicded that they would rule every other day on
alternating days.  During this era eye gouging was a farely common
punishment for crimes.  It's interesting to note that Qod preferred to order
right eye gougings whereas Qos preferred left eye gougings.  None of the
criminals liked it when Qou took over the throne after the Li twins demise.